Ballyduff Drama Group present ‘The Ferryman’
‘The Ferryman’ by Jez Butterworth is the latest offering by Ballyduff Drama Group for the 2024 festival circuit. Directed, once again, by Ger Canning, and following on from the success of ‘The Welkin’ (2nd Place All-Ireland 2023) & ‘Rabbit Hole’ (winners 2022), this strong play promises to thrill audiences already accustomed to Ballyduff’s consistent high standard.
Set in an Armagh farmhouse kitchen during the ‘troubles’ in 1981, it introduces us to an array of characters, all dealing with the complex nature of community/family life during a time of violent political struggle. The stage is filled with noise, movement, song and dance where three generations argue, feast and knock back whiskey, but always with an undercurrent of unease and the threat of violence.
At the centre of the play is the long shadow cast by the so called ‘disappeared’ of the troubles and the fate of Seamus Carney, a son of the house who disappeared in 1972. Coupled with this is the unspoken love which has grown between Seamus’s wife, Caitlin (Grainne Kenny) and his brother, Quinn Carney (John Stack) and the tensions caused by this in a household that includes Quinn’s ailing wife, Mary (Fiona Coughlan) and their six children.
Throw into this mix the Quinn’s Uncle Pat (a return for Richie Walsh), staunch republican Aunt Pat (Sheila Heneghan), Aunt Maggie (Mary Colbert), lost in her past but capable of uttering nuggets of wisdom and family retainer Englishman Tom Kettle with seven children, a priest, cousins and the IRA and we are sure to be kept on the edge of our seats with excitement.
One critic’s review of an early production of ‘The Ferryman’ outlined how Butterworth’s ‘plays speak to the soul first and the brain second’ so we can imagine that Ballyduff Drama Group will, once again, challenge its audience on a number of levels with this production.
The play runs on Thursday 15th, Saturday 17th, Sunday 18th and Thursday 22nd-Saturday, 24th February. Bookings on 087-1391200 from February 6th between 2pm and 8pm.